Forrester Research has forecasted a significant shift in consumer behavior, predicting a 25% decline in brand loyalty by 2025 due to increasing price sensitivity. According to the company’s latest B2C Marketing and Customer Experience Predictions report, consumers will increasingly gravitate toward brands offering value through loyalty programs as they seek alternatives to constant price comparison.
Released this week, the report highlights several key trends that are expected to shape the B2C marketing and customer experience landscape in the coming year. Alongside the decline in brand loyalty, the report points to the rapid adoption of generative AI in customer service, and the continued resilience of TikTok in the U.S. despite political pressure for the platform to be divested from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The predicted drop in brand loyalty stems from a challenging economic environment where rising prices have led many consumers to prioritize cost over brand affiliation. Forrester anticipates that brands will respond by investing more heavily in loyalty and marketing technology in order to streamline customer experiences and retain their consumer base.
A notable 78% of B2C marketing executives in the U.S. currently acknowledge that their loyalty and marketing systems are disjointed, but Forrester expects efforts to unify these systems will triple by 2025.
By improving the integration of these technologies, brands hope to deliver more seamless and personalized experiences that cater to customers’ increasing demand for consistency.
One of the most impactful predictions centers around the role of generative AI in reshaping customer service. Forrester projects that by 2025, AI-powered automation will displace 100,000 frontline agents in the world’s largest contact center outsourcing firms, particularly for low-complexity tasks. As it stands, 62% of contact center roles in consumer-facing industries are outsourced, leaving a significant portion of the global workforce vulnerable to AI-driven disruption. Sharyn Leaver, Forrester’s chief research officer, noted that while many brands experimented with generative AI in 2024, the real benefits of the technology will materialize in the years to come as businesses focus on improving their data infrastructure to enhance customer insights.
Another prediction that has generated attention is the forecast surrounding TikTok. Forrester asserts that the platform will remain operational in the U.S. in 2025, despite ongoing political scrutiny and calls for ByteDance to divest. The continued presence of TikTok is expected to offer stability for brands heavily invested in the platform, which has proven to be a high-performing media channel in recent years.
The 2025 predictions align with broader trends in the marketing industry, where brands are increasingly turning to data-driven strategies to weather economic uncertainty. The rise of AI technology, in particular, reflects a shift toward automation as companies seek to cut costs while maintaining quality customer service. At the same time, consumer preferences for value-driven experiences over brand loyalty indicate that businesses will need to adapt quickly to maintain their competitive edge in a volatile market.
Forrester’s annual predictions are widely regarded as a barometer for upcoming trends in marketing and customer experience, helping leaders navigate future challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities. With its latest forecast, the research firm signals that brands will need to make significant investments in technology and data infrastructure to stay competitive in 2025.